Lakeland, Florida (June 24, 2010)— Coldwell Banker Commercial Saunders Real Estate Realtors®, Greg Smith; Clay Taylor, ALC; David Hitchcock and Darby Craddock worked almost two years to bring this transaction to closure. Craddock and Taylor represented the buyer and Smith and Hitchcock represented the seller. The property sold in May 2010 for $1,050,000 by seller Dimara Corporation to buyer Lomas Del Sol LLC. Located on 34+/- acres in Frostproof, the property includes a 6,000 main building, mobile home, six outbuildings, and more. The parcel and facilities are planned for an H2A Farm Labor Housing Facility by the buyer.

This H2A Farm Labor Housing will attract to Polk County’s $2.8 billion* agribusiness industry much needed skilled farm labor. This will create a positive impact on the County’s economy and big farming operations, as labor is a very competitive component. The H2A Farm Labor program is a US Government backed program where qualified people are trained and brought to agricultural areas for employment. Under the program, provided housing has to meet very strict criteria.

The selling process was not easy and sometimes painfully slow. The Polk County Commission developed a task force to work on a proposed text amendment to the Polk County’s current land use. The changes took two years and resulted in a Commission vote to make it happen. The agribusiness community assisted in the process.

The Frostproof Retreat property is one of the first to be sold after the new Polk County text amendment took place.

Polk County represents 626,634 +/- acres of total agricultural land with over 3,100 farming operations. The County has an agricultural annual sales impact of $2.8 billion that includes almost 15,500 jobs.*

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David Hitchcock

David Hitchcock, ALC, CCIM, is an associate broker specializing in central and south Florida agricultural properties, agriculture transitional properties (transition-to-next-use), and residential development properties. A forty-year veteran of the Florida Agribusiness industry, he… Read More About David Hitchcock »